Pesachim

[and] R. Yeba Saba1 waited on them. Said they to him, ‘Give us [wine] and we will say Grace.’ Subsequently2 they said, ‘Give us [wine] and we will drink.’3 Said he to them, ‘Thus did Rab say: Once you have said, "Give us [wine] and we will say Grace, It is forbidden to you to drink.4 What is the reason? Because you let it pass out of your minds.’5 Amemar and Mar Zutra and R. Ashi were sitting at a meal and R. Aha the son of Raba waited on them. Amemar recited a separate blessing for each cup; Mar Zutra recited a blessing over the first cup and over the last cup;6 [but] R. Ashi recited a blessing over the first cup and no more. Said R. Aha b. Raba to them: in accordance with whom are we to act?-Amemar replied: I made a [fresh] decision [each time] .7 Mar Zutra replied: I acted in accordance with Rab's disciples. But R. Ashi maintained: The law is not as Rab's disciples for surely when a Festival falls after the Sabbath, Rab ruled: [The order is] Yaknah.8 But that is not so: there9 he had detached his mind from drinking;10 [whereas] here he had not detached his mind from drinking. When he came to perform habdalah,11 his attendant arose and kindled a torch at a lamp.12 Said he to him, ‘Why take all this trouble? Surely the lamp is standing before us!’13 ‘My servant has acted of his own accord,’ replied he. ‘Had he not heard it thus from you,’14 he retorted, ‘he would not have done it.’ Said he to him: ‘Do you then not hold, [To employ] a torch for habdalah is the best way of performing the precept?’ Then he commenced [habdalah] and recited: ‘He who makes a distinction between holy and non-holy, between light and darkness, between Israel and the nations, between the seventh day and the six working days.’ Said he to him: ‘Why do you need all this? Surely Rab Judah said in Rab's name: “He who makes a distinction between holy and non-holy," was the formula of habdalah as recited by R. Judah ha-Nasi?’ ‘I hold with the following,’ answered he. ‘For R. Eleazar said in R. Oshaia's name: He who would recite but few [distinctions] must recite not less than three; while he who would add, must not add beyond seven.15 Said he to him: and Raba acted in accordance with this ruling. repeated the blessing each time. Consequently my action does not involve a general ruling. account of habdalah. Hence the same applies to two cups in general. blessing. interrupted by the somewhat similar story about Amemar and his companions. The meal in question took place toward the end of the Sabbath, and at the termination of the Sabbath Raba performed habdalah.